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Apple’s record-breaking earnings report by the numbers

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Apple financial results on an iPad Pro
A dive into Apple’s most recent financial results shows what’s really happening with the company.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

After several rocky quarters, Apple set a new record for third-quarter revenue. Plus there’s good news in iPad and Mac sales. However, iPhone revenue slipped considerably.

Check out these charts that demonstrate with a glance how the company did last quarter.

Hands on with iPhone 11: What to expect from 2019 iPhones [Video]

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iPhone 11 R and 11 Max on fence post
These iPhone 11 dummies should be a lot like the real thing.
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

It seems like it’s impossible to make it through the summer without leaks about upcoming iPhones. From iPhone 11 supply chain leaks to iPhone XI case-maker models, 2019 is no different.

With so many holes in the supply chain, we have a pretty good idea of what to expect this year. Thanks to sources online, we’ve got dummy iPhone XI, XI Max, and XIr models to give us a taste of this year’s iPhone lineup. (We still don’t know the exact model names, though.)

Upcoming iPhone XI gets third eye in intriguing new renders

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iPhoneX1
This weird design looks kind of cool.
Photo: MKHBD

With renders and dummy units showing how a third rear camera might look on 2019 iPhones, there’s still some debate about how the new lens array will look on the final product.

Notorious smartphone-leaker Ben Geskin tweeted a few images this morning showing a different take on the iPhone XI and iPhone XI Max than we’ve seen before. Instead of having a giant black tile in the back, Geskin suggests Apple may not hide the lenses at all. Instead, the three-lens array would be on full display.

Is this what the iPhone XI will really look like?

Apple brings True Tone to MacBook Air, faster chips to MacBook Pro

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The late-2018 MacBook Air with Retina display.
They’re now more affordable, too.
Photo: Apple

Apple has updated the MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro for the back-to-school season. And they’re now more affordable.

The newest MacBook Air now ships with a True Tone display — just like its more expensive siblings. The newest 13-inch MacBook Pro is powered by faster Intel chips, while the entry-level model now offers a Touch Bar with Touch ID.

Meet the first woman to head up Apple’s famous Industrial Design team

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Evans Hankey VP of Industrial Design
Evans Hankey just took on a huge role that will help shape the company for years to come.
Photo: Apple

Jony Ive’s departure from Apple puts Evans Hankey in charge of the Industrial Design team that created everything from the iMac to the iPhone — a position critical to the future of the company. Her new title is VP of Industrial Design,

Jony Ive’s role was so large that that two people will be needed to replace him. Alan Dye will be VP of Human Interface Design, so he’ll be leading the software group.

This is what the 2020 iPhones might look like

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2020 iPhone
Concept of the 2020 iPhones based on early rumors.
Photo: Ben Geskin

The 2019 iPhone lineup hasn’t even been revealed yet but we might already know what next year’s iPhones will look like too.

Recent rumors have claimed that Apple will come out with new screen sizes for the 2020 iPhone lineup. The biggest iPhone will get a bit bigger while the smallest will get a little bit smaller. To see how that would look, Ben Geskin created a mockup of the upcoming devices, and they look fantastic.

Check out the size comparison with the current iPhones:

iPadOS makes Apple Pencil much faster and better [Opinion]

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Apple Pencil in iPadOS 13 decreased latency
At WWDC, Apple VP Craig Federighi revealed one of the ways iPadOS 13 improves the Apple Pencil.
Screenshot: Apple

Without changing the hardware, iPadOS 13 manages to decrease the latency of the Apple Pencil. And that’s just the start: there are also new features for non-artists to take advantage of this active stylus.

Check out our first impressions of using an Apple Pencil with the initial beta of Apple’s next operating system.

Apple’s epic WWDC 2019 keynote was the best in years

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Nailed it! Craig Federighi onstage during the WWDC 2019 keynote.
That pretty much sums it up.
Photo: Apple

WWDC 2019 bug Like a blockbuster movie, Apple’s jaw-dropping WWDC 2019 kickoff served up a boatload of things that make us swoon: fun new features, LOL-worthy jokes, actual soulful moments and unexpected twists.

Perhaps most surprising — in an era of rampant leaks — Apple even delivered a legitimate surprise when it showed off its highly anticipated Mac Pro computer. That monster machine might look a little familiar, but the modular design and audacious specs got the world buzzing. (So did that cringe-inducing $5,999 price tag. That’s the starting price.)

And, like most modern movies, the WWDC 2019 keynote lasted about 15 minutes too long.

All the major features to expect in macOS 10.15

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MacBook Pro coding
Apple is coding up some big upgrades for Mac this fall.
Photo: Apple

iOS 13 is expected to be the star of WWDC 2019, but this year’s conference could unleash some of the biggest changes for the Mac we’ve ever seen.

The rumor mill has been dishing out tons of details about macOS 10.15 in the lead up to WWDC 2019. We’ve already seen screenshots of some of the new apps and gotten some good details on how iOS apps are making their way onto the Mac. There’s still plenty of room for Apple to surprise us when it reveals the full details of macOS 10.15 on June 3, but here’s what we know about it so far.

Everything we think we know about iOS 13 for iPhone

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We hope iOS 13 looks a lot like this.
We hope iOS 13 looks a lot like this.
Photo: Alvaro Pabesio

The big iOS 13 news is all about the iPad. Or at least, we expect it to be based on rumors and leaks. But what about the iPhone? How will iOS 13 shape up on the most popular of iOS devices? Will it be a dead year, while the iPad gets all the (somewhat overdue) attention? Or will it be just as exciting for iPhone owners?

The good news is, the iOS update will probably be huge overall. In recent years, Apple has managed to lock down the secrecy around software, but this year the rumors — based on purported leaks — abound. That might mean the iOS 13 is bursting with new stuff.

So, let’s take a look.

2019 MacBook Pro teardown reveals minimal keyboard changes

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2019 MacBook Pro keys
What’s inside a 2019 MacBook Pro key.
Photo: iFixit

Apple just dropped a new MacBook Pro with faster Intel processors that deliver even greater performance. But more importantly, it features “new material” that Apple hopes will fix its keyboard woes.

The machine now been pulled apart by iFixit so that we can see exactly what’s changed under the hood. Don’t expect anything too dramatic or you’ll be sorely disappointed.

Apple regains No. 3 spot in this year’s Fortune 500 ranking

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European Commission could get even tougher on tech in 2020
Apple is worth a whole heap of cash.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple comes in third on this year’s Fortune 500 list, a ranking of companies based on revenue.

Apple lagged behind Walmart and ExxonMobil in terms of revenue. However, it massively outperforms both in terms of profitability. Interestingly, No. 4 on the list — Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway firm — is also one of Apple’s biggest investors.

How (and why) Jony Ive built the mysterious rainbow Apple Stage

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The colorful Apple Stage really pops in the center of Apple Park.
The colorful Apple Stage really pops in the center of Apple Park's massive "spaceship" building.
Photo: Duncan Sinfield

The mysterious, rainbow-colored stage erected inside Apple Park bears all the hallmarks of the company’s meticulous design, according to an Apple document provided to Cult of Mac.

It’s the latest creation by Jony Ive’s team — and it’s just as thoughtfully and intricately designed as you might imagine.

An article explaining the project to Apple employees sheds light on just how much thought, time and intense effort went into building the rainbow Apple Stage. And Jony Ive’s ruminations on the project show he and his collaborators put a lot of thought into it.

What we learned from Apple’s surprising earnings report

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European Commission could get even tougher on tech in 2020
European Commission could get even tougher on tech in 2020
Image: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Wall Street received surprisingly better-than-expected news from Apple’s Q2 2019 earnings report today — and the stock is soaring in after-hours trading.

iPhone sales remain down, but pretty much every other facet of the company’s business is firing on all cylinders. Customers are falling in love with the iPad all over again. Services are booming. And Apple’s wearables business is now the size of a Fortune 200 company.

Despite plenty of doom and gloom from analysts over the last 12 months, Apple’s future is looking bright again.

How to sanitize your Safari history on iOS

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Here’s one piece of history we don’t want to erase.
Here’s one piece of history we don’t want to erase.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Have you got some embarrassing entries in your Safari browsing history? Or maybe it’s a question of security: You don’t want your iPad’s history to fall into the wrong hands, etc.

Smutty jokes aside, there are plenty of legit reasons to clear your Safari history on your iPhone or iPad. And the good news is that Safari for iOS has some great tools for doing so. For example, did you know that you can clear just the last hour of browsing history, or the past couple of days?

Get ready to learn how to sanitize your Safari history on iOS devices.

A brief history of Apple’s misadventures in manufacturing: Part 1 [Cook book outtakes]

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Apple Macintosh Factory of the future in Fremont
Steve Jobs built a highly automated Macintosh plant grandly called the "factory of the future."
Photo: Apple Maps

Tim Cook book outtakes This post was going to be part of my new book, Tim Cook: The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level, but was cut for length. Over the next week or so, we will be publishing several more sections that were cut, focusing mostly on Apple’s manufacturing operations.

Steve Jobs always had a deep fascination with automated factories. He was first exposed to them during a trip to Japan in 1983. At the time, Apple had just created a new floppy disk drive called Twiggy. During a visit to Apple’s factory in San Jose, however, Jobs became irate when he discovered the high failure rate of Twiggy drives Apple was producing. More than half of them were rejected. Jobs threatened to fire everyone who worked at the factory

Hacker knits Mac ROM scarves to boot up your fashion game

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Mac ROM scarves
Code to keep your neck warm.
Photo: KnitYak

You could safely assume that computer hackers and people who knit have little to talk about. One activity is clearly analog and seemingly old-fashioned while the other pre-occupies the mind of a tech geek.

Fabienne Serriere blows up that assumption by being both. She combines the two rather different activities to make eye-catching scarves imprinted with Mac ROM code.

Apple takes on Netflix with its own original TV service

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CEO Tim Cook before a picture of actors, directors, and producers of Apple TV+ original shows.
CEO Tim Cook before a picture of actors, directors, and producers of Apple TV+ original shows.
Photo: Apple

Hundreds of TV shows are available through dozens of streaming services, and Apple has just added itself to the mix with a stable of original programs. But rather than increasing the complexity, Apple is hoping to simplify everything by becoming a one-stop-shop for multiple offerings, including HBO, Showtime and more.

This service is called, logically enough, Apple TV+

The new iPad Air is Pro enough for most people [Opinion]

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In some ways, the iPad Air is better than the Pro.
In some ways, the iPad Air is better than the Pro.
Photo: Apple

The new iPad Air is a monster. It’s practically as powerful as the top-of-the-range iPad Pro, but costs around $300 less. You lose a few features — the magnetic Apple Pencil 2, ProMotion, etc. — but for most people that probably doesn’t matter.

In fact, the new iPad Air is so good that it’s probably good enough for most people. And for some folks — professional musicians, for example, or people who hate headphone dongles — it’s even better.

Apple whips its gigantic global supply chain into shape [Opinion]

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Apple supply chain worker inspecting glass
Apple is really cleaning up its supply chain under Tim Cook.
Photo: Apple

Over the years, Apple took heavy criticism for employing an offshore supply chain rife with abuse. The company is still stained by the rash of worker suicides in 2010 at Foxconn, its main supplier.

But as Apple’s latest Supplier Responsibility report shows, the company continues to make remarkable strides to improve conditions for workers and the environment.

Apple’s first AR glasses to arrive in 2020 as iPhone accessory

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iOS 11.3 ARKit
Augmented reality will be even better with glasses.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s long-rumored augmented reality glasses will finally arrive in 2020, according to a trusted analyst.

The first-generation specs reportedly will function strictly as an iPhone accessory. They will depend on Apple’s smartphone for processing, rendering, location services and just about everything else. Mass-production of the Apple AR glasses could start later this year.

How to finally get iMessages on Android

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AirMessage
AirMessage bridges the gap between iMessage and Android.
Photo: AirMessage

Android lovers can finally bust out of the green bubble life without owning an iPhone.

Thanks to a new app that brings iMessage to Android, you can now enjoy one of Apple’s best features even if you don’t have an iOS device. It’s not a perfect solution and you’ll need a Mac but it’s better than any of the other workarounds we’ve seen.

Best of all, it’s totally free!

Here’s what Apple’s (apparently) got in store for 2019

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The iPhone XS Max is 25 percent larger than any previous iOS handset. So how is it as an iPad mini replacement?
From new iPhones and major Macs to a refreshed iPod touch, this could be a great year for Apple hardware!
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

2018 was a great year for Apple devices, but 2019 could be even better, if a new report is to be believed. Issued over the weekend by noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, his research note runs down some of his hardware expectations for the coming year.

From redesigned MacBooks to Apple’s best-ever desktop display, this could be a year to remember. Heck, there’s even a new iPod in the cards, according to Kuo!